


An Echo of What Was Left

by JayAnarchy



Series: An Echo of What Was Left Works [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Character Death, Crying, Galra Matings, M/M, Marriage, Mate bonds, Mates, Post Season/Series 08, Season/Series 08, Spoilers, Suicide, Unhappy Ending, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-02-16 00:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18680185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayAnarchy/pseuds/JayAnarchy
Summary: Krolia and Keith had seen things from the future. They knew that there was a possibility that they wouldn't happen, but neither expected that it wouldn't be Keith marrying Shiro. Now, Krolia prays that her son will be able to survive the rejection of his mate.





	1. To Assume Is To Ask For The Unwanted

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, hi, hello, tis me, the newbie. Never really thought I would be posting here but inspiration hit when I was falling asleep the other night, so here I am. After writing out this idea to a friend I decided I might as well post it here in case anyone needed this sort of angst like I did. 
> 
> This won't be very long. I had planned on just making it into a one shot but it's 3am and I don't feel like writing this all tonight... this morning, whatever. So, gonna be split into short chapters.
> 
> Totally never done this before and I'm too lazy for a beta, so, here you go. Ignore all the shit writing. *Thumbs up* Good luck. Prepare for the tears later on.

During the two years that Keith lived with his mother on the back of the space whale, well, he learned a lot. There were some interesting things he learned about being half-Galra, different traditions and how things worked in Galra culture. Of course, there were things that she told him that he found himself raising a brow at, but none caught his attention more than the subjects of mates.

Keith had been fully prepared for infamous “Talk”. He had heard it before in school, he had gone through puberty, so he really didn’t want to have this conversation with his mother. Though, his reluctance to the conversation and avoidance of it quickly disappeared after his mother saw one of his more recent memories of Shiro. Keith flying through the debris after the fight with Zarkon, searching for Shiro and the pain he felt as he did. It showed him losing Shiro and then finding him again. Well, they would find out later that who he had found wasn’t Shiro at all, though he hadn’t known it at the time.

“He’s your mate.” Krolia has said, turning to her son once the vision had passed. It had been so clear to her that it was her son’s mate. She had her suspicions from his earlier memories of Shiro, them at the Garrison, but watching her son search for him, watching him find his place as Black’s pilot because of Shiro’s absence, she knew. It was clear as glass that her son’s heart had chosen its mate and Keith had no idea.

She couldn’t get Keith to accept the thought long enough for her to explain what mates meant to the Galra, not until a vision from a possible future came to them. Something was wrong with Shiro, he was fighting with Keith, trying to kill him and when the moment came, Keith hadn’t been able to let Shiro go. It was that vision that had Keith looking to her, finally accepting the feelings he had for the original black paladin and wanting answers. It was then that she was able to explain just what Shiro meant to her son.

Neither of them knew, that one of the last visions they received on the whale, would end with a wicked twist that would ruin her son forever. She would have never imagined it wasn’t her son who was being married to the Captain of the IGF-Atlas. By the broken look on her son’s face, she knew he hadn’t imagined it either.


	2. The Best Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The infamous wedding of Shiro and Curtis. Keith was, of course, his best man and said best man isn't handling it very well.

Keith had always been someone who could hide his emotions when he really wanted to. He could lie straight to your face and you wouldn’t think anything different. Well, unless you were Takashi Shirogane. Shiro had always been able to read Keith like a book, no matter how good Keith’s poker face was to the rest of the world. Shiro has been able to do it since day one.

So, for Shiro to be totally oblivious to, not only his emotional pain but his physical pain from the rejection, well, he must be pretty fucking happy. While something told Keith that Shiro wasn’t _truly_ happy, there was no other explanation the other could handle as to why Shiro couldn’t see how Keith was hurting. It was only that much worse when the others could see Keith’s poker face cracking but Shiro didn’t. They had never seen Keith cry, they had never seen a tear pool in his eyes, they had never seen anything but anger from Keith until the wedding.

“… Shiro saved me from the home, from the Garrison, from the world…. From myself. He never gave up on me.” Keith’s voice broke, knowing that it was no longer true. Shiro had given up on him. He had given up on him the moment after the fight at the cloning facility when he switched to riding in Green when he left Keith sitting on top of black as he looked out at the sunset, he had given up on Keith a while ago and Keith had just hoped he hadn’t. There was no more doubt in his mind now. “I never gave up on him. I would _never_ give up on him because as many times as it takes, I’ll be there to save him. He doesn’t need me for that anymore, though, it’s Curtis’ job now to make sure this old timer doesn’t get into much trouble.” He joked, using a fake laugh and humor to cover up the sob that wanted to escape from his lips.

Holding up his flute of champagne, he tried hard to ignore the looks that all the other paladins were giving him, that his mother and Kolivan were giving him, and anyone with a pair of eyes really. Turning, he looked at Shiro, tears that the newly-wed was too drunk off love to notice were tears of heartbreak and not happiness. “To Shiro and Curtis.” With a tip of his head, Keith shot back the glass of champagne and turned to join his mother and Kolivan in their little corner of the venue. Keith wasn’t ready to face the paladins yet, he wasn’t going to ever be ready to face Shiro after this. Krolia and Kolivan understood that. Any Galran did.

“You did well, Kit.” Kolvian’s gruff voice echoed in his ears as he felt the male’s large hand on his shoulder. Shiro used to do that. Shiro used to praise him, he used to touch him, used to make him feel better. Shiro used to be the only one standing next to him. Shiro was thereafter his father and Shiro was there before he ever knew his mother. Shiro was, and still is, his everything as much as Keith hated to admit it. He desperately wished he could hate Shiro and that he could just let him go but he couldn’t.

“You don’t need to stay any longer. You stood at the altar as his best man and you have given the speech as such, there’s no reason for you to stay here, Keith. Please, don’t keep torturing yourself with being here. Your things are already settled on base, you don’t need to do anything else now.” Krolia said as she looked down at her son.

She was beyond furious with how things had turned out. She had found herself glaring at Shiro even though she knew how much her son hated it. He had asked her many of times to not hate Shiro for not choosing him, but how could she not? With the Captain’s rejection, he had sent Keith to his death. Whether he knew that or not, he was still the one to blame in her eyes. He was supposed to be the person who knew her son inside out, yet, he had gone and done this. She never thought the Captain could be this cruel.

“I need to say goodbye to the others.” He had seen the looks of realization and worry on their faces. If he just left without at least telling them he was leaving, he would have to deal with constant messages popping up on his datapad until he said _something_.

Turning from his mother and Kolivan, Keith took a breath and made his way through to where the paladins had grouped together. Matt and Romelle had joined them where they were chatting to one another and drinking champagne. Of course, the moment that Romelle noticed him approaching, the whole group was alerted. Everyone had looked up and turned around, eyes filled with concern. It had Keith wishing he had just agreed to leave when his mother offered. He didn’t want the others to pity him, he didn’t want them fretting and fussing over him. There was no reason to. He would be fine.

“Mullet, what the hell, man? Why didn’t you tell us?” Lance was the first one to fire off his thoughts on the whole situation. Hunk quickly followed, tears pooling in his eyes and lip wobbling as he threw himself at Keith and wrapped his arms around him.

“Oh, buddy! It’s okay, we’re here for you!” Hunk sniffed as he held Keith. Of course, it didn’t last long, Keith shoving the other off him as his temper flared with his pain.

“Just stop! I don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s nothing to tell.” He hissed out, no longer looking at any of them. He couldn’t. He knew they were all giving him knowing looks, sorry looks, and he couldn’t fucking handle it. “I just came over here to tell you guys I’m leaving. I’m joining the Blades in their humanitarian relief work. I won’t be coming back to Earth.”

“Like ever?” Matt asked as he looked at the other and let out a whistle when Keith nodded. “Man, Shiro won’t be happy about that.”

“It doesn’t matter. Shiro’s got Curtis now, he doesn’t need me.” Keith said bitterly, though the sadness he was trying hard to hide seemed to slip through no matter how hard he tried. Crossing his arms over his chest, he tried to protect himself. Adding another layer of defense over his broken and vulnerable heart like it would help. The damage was already done and there was nothing he could do.

“Guys…” Hunk muttered out, having caught sight of a familiar head of white hair making its way through the tables. Sadly, no one was listening to Hunk.

“Seriously, you’re just gonna run away?” Pidge spit out. She was mad that Keith was just leaving. Keith was a part of her family, just like the rest of the paladins. She didn’t want this. It was already bad enough that something was going with Shiro and he was pulling away from them, now Keith was just gonna leave. What happened to always saving the idiot?

She had heard about Keith from Shiro years ago before Kerberos and she knew just how much Keith meant to Shiro. While the others might have been a bit surprised that Keith had feelings, especially feelings for Shiro, she wasn’t. She was smart, she picked up on how the two felt about each other. She knew that they loved each other for years. Keith loved Shiro and Shiro loved Keith, but Shiro, the idiot, for some reason had gotten married to some stranger.

“Um, guys, seriously, you might to –“ Hunk tried again, voice a little more frantic.

“I’m not running away, I’m just not needed here anymore. I was never meant for Earth, this planet was never my home.” Keith grumbled out in reply, closing off more and more to them all. It pissed her off to no end. They were both so stupid and she wished they would just confess already.

“ _Guys!_ ” Hunk hissed out in the quietest but attention-grabbing whisper he could.

“Why don’t you just tell him, Keith? It’s Shiro! You used to tell him everything.” Pidge said, throwing her hand in the air. As she did, Hunk gave a sheepish smile and chuckle as Shiro came to a stop right behind the two.

“I, uh, I’m inclined to agree with her.” He said, a little embarrassed himself. He didn’t know what they were talking about, but whatever it was had the whole group letting off waves of tension. What could have happened to get them all so upset like this? Lifting his human hand, he placed it on Keith’s shoulder as he turned his attention to the black paladin. Though, it wasn’t like he didn’t take notice to how the rest of the group moved off, disappearing to give them room. Huh, interesting.

“So, is there something you were wanting to tell me, Keith? You know I’m always here to listen.” Keith hated that voice, hated how inviting it was and how it made his whole body want to melt… how it made tears prink at the corners of his eyes.

Keith kept his head down, grateful for the longer locks that helped shield his face from Shiro’s eyes. He just needed a second, just a few seconds to compose himself before he looked at the man. He was putting up every wall he could, preparing himself for looking at Shiro like this, up close and happy.

“Just… Congrats, Shiro. I’m really happy that you found this.” Keith said as he lifted his head with a deep breath. No matter how hard he tried, the tears wouldn’t go away. They glistened in his amethyst eyes. He was glad to see that Shiro’s face of concern quickly flickered back to something soft and happy. Obviously, he still couldn’t tell the difference between happy tears and the ones that stung in his eyes now. Shiro really had lost his ability to read him, or maybe he just didn’t care to anymore. “And that I’m leaving. I’m going with the Blades to help with becoming a relief organization.”

“Oh. _Oh._ Keith, that’s great!” Shiro said with a grin. He didn’t need to know that Keith wasn’t planning on coming back. He didn’t need to be bothered with him anymore. He had Curtis now, his own family he was starting and Keith wasn’t a part of it. Shiro didn’t need to pretend he cared anymore. “They couldn’t have anyone better helping them.”

The conversation didn’t get any further as Krolia walked up behind her son, golden eyes narrowed at Shiro. She was daring him to fight her on this. “Sorry, Captain, we must really be going now. We leave for our first mission early tomorrow and Keith could really use the sleep.” She couldn’t stand to see that look on her son’s face any longer. They were leaving and they were leaving now.

“Oh. Of course. I wish you all were able to stay a bit longer, but I understand.” Shiro said, looking a bit disappointed that Keith was leaving already. “Thank you, Keith, for everything. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”

Shiro had leaned in for a hug but Keith was already turning with the tug on his arm from his mother. Glancing over his shoulder at Shiro, a tear escaping and sliding down his cheek as he fought back a sob. Giving a curt nod, Keith took in Shiro for one last time before he left for good. “Goodbye, Shiro.”

Turning his back fully to the one person he thought would be his forever was the hardest thing he had done. War compared nothing to knowing Shiro was alive and had chosen to leave him. Keith would have picked a lifetime of trying to find Shiro and refusing he was gone than this. This, this was worse than death.

His mate had rejected him and there was nothing left for Keith to do besides wait to see what would become of him in weeks, months, and years to come.

Keith hoped it didn’t last that long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter might be the last, not sure. Really, these chapters depend on when I write and how late it is.
> 
> Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/jax_409)


	3. It was just a butt dial, right? Right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was no way he actually meant to call him, right? There was no possible reason for it. He had Curtis now.

Keith had gotten away with one week of not contacting anyone before Pidge was literally spamming ever communicator on the ship. Of course, when it started to bother the other Blades, it meant it was time for him to answer. It led to him getting his ass chewed out by the shortest of the paladins, which was expected. She also, once again, expressed her dislike of his decision to not return to earth, along with telling him how big of an asshole was. It was only after an hour or chatting that she apologized at the end of the call, telling him that she understood why he couldn’t be on Earth right now. Even she couldn’t stand to look at Shiro and Curtis right now, though, it was more for the fact of how overly lovey there were right now. They still had a month before they were going on a weeklong honeymoon.

Keith tried not to think about how Curtis actually made Shiro agree to not working for more than an hour. Keith had been the only one to do that before and it was a pain in the ass to do so. The thought Curtis being better at managing Shiro than him had Keith’s stomach turning. Little did he know that the only way Curtis had gotten Shiro to take a honeymoon at all was if he could work from his holopad while they were away and if he was needed on Atlas they would return immediately.

Of course, once he answered Pidge, she made sure he answered the rest of the paladins calling to check on him. It helped some, to hear and see them again. Not only was he missing Shiro and dealing with that heartbreak, but he was also missing the Paladins. They had become something close to… well, what someone might call family.  
Pidge had kept him up to date on everything going on in the Garrison, keeping her ear out for any trouble. While Zarkon and his empire were no longer really a problem, that didn’t mean another one couldn’t pop up and take its place. Pidge had her concerns on what that could be. Her money was all the new technology and knowledge going to earth’s head. 

Hunk talked about his family and how they were working on setting up soup kitchens for the people who had lost their homes in the war. As you may guess, he was very passionate about making sure the food wasn’t only there and available to anyone who needed it, but it was delicious as well.

Lance…. Well, Lance had Keith a bit worried if he was being completely honest. While they were far from being best friends, they had grown closer. Especially now that Lance knew the pain of losing the person he loved most in the universe. They didn’t talk a lot when he called. Mostly, they just sat there in a comfortable silence as they both did odd ball things to keep their hands busy. Keith was surprised how much it helped to just sit there with someone who understood. He just wished that there was something he could do to make Lance happy before he went. 

Coran and Romelle called too, of course. Romelle also visited from time to time. Normally she would show up when Keith was taking a break between missions (not that it was his choice in doing so) and have, what he could only describe as sleep overs. It involved a lot of junk food, Romelle doing ridiculous things to his hair, and watching movies. 

When he talked to them, he felt… well, he almost felt normal. Happy, even. Of course, once they call or visit was over he was once again exhausted by the amount of aching in his chest and bones. It was the aches that reminded him that one day soon, he wouldn’t be here. It had him wanting to pull back, trying to pull back. Though, it didn’t take but a glance to notice he wasn’t trying too hard yet. While he wouldn’t admit it, seeing his friends and talking to them, it was the only thing keeping him sane. Well, the Blades, his mom and Kosmo helped too. 

What didn’t help was the call that came about a week before the reunion they had under Allura’s memorial. It had been almost seven months since Shiro got married. Seven months since Keith’s heart broke in a way that couldn’t heal with time or moving on. Seven months since Keith’s clock slowly started ticking down. 

Seeing Shiro’s name blinking on his holopad had Keith wanting to bend over and hurl. The split inside his mind was something he was almost sure would physically rip him apart. He loved Shiro with every fiber of his being and he wanted to hear him and see him again, but Shiro was married and he wasn’t married to him. Seeing and hearing Shiro would only remind him of that. Hell, just seeing his name blinking in wait for him to answer had him wanting to throw himself off a cliff. He was sure that free falling to his death would be less scary than this. 

Keith’s panic seemed to decide if he should answer or not. The blinking notification and slight vibration in his hands stopped after Keith couldn’t get himself to move. He pulled in a sharp breath, gasping for it really, once Shiro’s name was gone and had changed into a missed call. He felt bad for not answering, felt bad for not picking it up right away. What if Shiro needed him for something? What if something was wrong?

Keith stopped, shaking his head as he reminded himself that it was silly. Shiro was with Curtis. Shiro wouldn’t be calling him if something was wrong or if he needed something, he would be calling Curtis. Maybe – Maybe it was a butt dial. Maybe he hadn’t even meant to call Keith in the first place. He couldn’t think like this anymore. Shiro had no reason to call him, he had Curtis to talk to and get help from now. He hadn’t tried to contact him since his wedding, so he hadn’t called to just chat. So… Yeah. Yeah, it had to have been by accident.  
Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean for it to take this long to update. Hopefully, I'll start updating more and get this story done with pretty soon. Mental health is in a better place right now so I really don't have a reason not to be writing other than I rather be reading fanfics than writing them. Lol 
> 
> Anyway, I might have another chapter up pretty soon. I'm still writing but figured this would be a good stopping point for this chapter. 
> 
> If you're too impatient for me to write all this out I do have this written up as a twitter thread on my twitter. It might be a bit different from what happens to here in the long run, but who knows.


	4. The Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, it had been over seven months without seeing Shiro's face or hearing Shiro's voice... maybe it would have been better to keep it that way.

Wrong. 

Keith had been wrong. Apparently, Shiro had meant to call him and he wasn’t sure if that was supposed to make him feel good or make him want to die under a rock. With all the emotions Shiro was making roll around in Keith’s body today, the half-galra had started to regret his decision to come to the reunion. Sadly, having the breath time with the other three paladins, Coran and Romelle before Shiro got there, it made it impossible to completely regret his choices.

Keith had come a few hours early at the request of Romelle. She had wanted time to talk with him by herself. Well, that, and she wanted to torture him a bit with trying to find a hairstyle she thought would be cute for him to wear during the reunion. So, Keith chatted with Romelle and Coran until the other’s started showing up. Hunk was the first one since he was going to make the majority of the food on site instead of bringing it. Then came Lance who had brought a bouquet of different flowers that had been growing in his garden over the last few months. After Lance was Pidge who brought Monsters and Mana in hopes for a game. 

It was easy with them. He could breathe when he was around them. He could think back to when they were still on the castle of lions and things were… well, they were far from fine, but they felt right. Things felt like they were in place. Of course, things would remind him that things weren’t right and his whole orbit was fucked to hell and back. Things like Lance’s quietness, Pidge’s slightly more matured face and the large statue of Allura towering over them. Those all reminded that Keith was on an unchangeable course of cashing full speed into the nearest planet. The one thing that smacked his face with that reminder harder than anything else was the sight of white hair coming up over the hill.

Shiro looked like… well, he looked like Shiro. He looked a bit older with the glasses that framed his eyes, especially with his white hair, but that didn’t mean he looked any less attractive than he always had. In fact, after not seeing him for months, he looked more attractive. Which was not a good thing for Keith’s health. It had his chest aching and a horrible sound being breathed out under his breath. Pidge was the only one to notice, her eyes narrowing on Keith as she watched him stare at Shiro. She knew something was going on with Keith other than his heartbreak over Shiro. She just couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong just yet. 

“Hey guys, sorry I’m a bit late. Curtis and I overslept.” Shiro said sheepishly, reaching back to scratch at his neck. While he had said him and Curtis had overslept, he actually spent a good part of his morning arguing with the other as nicely as possible, not wanting him to come. Of course, none of the others knew that. None of the other’s knew anything about how Shiro was having a hard time adjusting to married life. How he had wanted to come alone in hopes that being back with the people he spent the war with would help settle him. Maybe if he just saw them and could ask Keith about space… and… and just talk to Keith… maybe he wouldn’t feel so restless. 

Keith was glad that, while he had heard what Shiro said, his attention was too focused on the other’s Altean arm, or at least where it used to be. If Keith didn’t know Shiro and was just meeting him for the first time, he would have never guessed he was missing an arm. No, the new prosthetic looked so similar to a normal arm that it was unsettling. Though, leave it to Keith to think a prosthetic that could pass as a real limb weird but not one that could float around a room. He obviously had stared a bit too long because before he knew it Shiro was coming over to show it off.

“Oh, yeah. I guess no one told you about this, then. Pretty cool, huh? I got it a couple of months ago. If you don’t look too hard and you didn’t know it was missing you would never guess it wasn’t a real arm.” Shiro said with a goofy side smile as he continued to show the arm off to Keith. He was rambling. He was nervous to be talking to Keith again, especially since he hadn’t picked up his call late last week. He hadn’t tried calling again, or at least he hadn’t called Keith. He did message Krolia to ask if Keith was on a mission, even though Pidge said he wasn’t. Apparently, he had been busy with something else though since Krolia said he was unavailable to talk and she was sure he would call him when he had time.

Keith swallowed hard as his eyes had flicked up to catch sight of that smile. One of the smiles that made Keith’s chest hurt, the mind that had always made his chest hurt. Shiro was too beautiful to look at some days without Keith worried he was having a heart attack and now after he was rejected, it was only that much worse. “What happened to your other one?”

“Oh. Well… Curtis and I figured that with me retiring and all that maybe it was better for me to have something that fit in better with society. He said that sometimes it scares civilians to see alien technology after the war and I wasn’t a fan of how it didn’t actually connect to my body. Not that I don’t miss not having to get up from the couch to grab the TV remote or anything.” He said with a chuckle. His joking around quickly stopped when he saw the way Keith’s face fell. Frowning, Shiro tilted his head to the side a bit. “Keith?”

“You’re retiring?” Keith asked, unsure if he was actually breathing at this point. The idea of Shiro retiring had sucked all the air from his lungs. Shiro wasn’t made for retirement and he knew it. Shiro couldn’t sit still long enough to watch a single movie half the time. When they had tried to watch an old earth movie that had picked up at the space mall, Keith was constantly having to take the holopad away from the guy. Then again, he had been like that back in the Garrison as well. Which is why Keith was in such disbelief that the other was actually retiring. 

“Whoa, yeah! Since when are you retiring?” Lance spoke up. So, obviously Keith wasn’t the only one who didn’t know and by looking around at the other’s it was clear that none of them knew. 

“Um, yeah. I was actually gonna tell you guys later after we started eating.” Shiro said with a shy smile, giving them all a little shrug. “It’s something we’ve been discussing since we got married. Curtis thinks that I should finally just step back and rest.”

“You don’t know how to take a step back and rest, Shiro,” Keith said flatly, obviously a little upset. Though, he doubted the other would even notice. He hadn’t noticed Keith in a long time. 

“I know that, but I think if I just… try that maybe I’ll figure it out. Plus, Curtis will be there to make sure I actually relax for once. He’s right about it, though. The war is over and I’m not sick, I have nothing to prove to anyone anymore. I can actually enjoy my life without worrying about dying one way or another.” Shiro paused, tilting his head to the side a bit as he raised a brow before lowing it. “Or at least dying again.”

Keith frowned at that. While he knew Shiro’s sense of humor and enjoyed it, he never liked thinking about Shiro and dying or of any of Shiro’s previous deaths. He was happy that he was alive and he was actually going to try and slow down a bit, but it hurt to know that he was doing it with Curtis. That it was Curtis getting him to settle down.

“So, after this, I’m going to put my two weeks in. Curtis found a house he thought would be a good place to settle down. It’s pretty close to the Garrison so it’s not as green as Curtis would like it but we both rather be close by than mowing the lawn in the scorching heat.” Shiro continued to talk about their plans. He talked about how they planned on decorating the house, how it still needed some work done so it gave Shiro something to do while Curtis was at work. He even talked about how they’ve been thinking about getting a dog. 

Keith was lost to the conversation at this point. He was too furious at the idea of Curtis keeping Shiro stuck in a house somewhere while he went off and continued to work at the Garrison. He had a hard time believing that Shiro really wanted to just live on earth somewhere for the rest of his life. That he wanted to stop working and leave space behind. He couldn’t. Shiro was made of space. Maybe he wasn’t made in the same way Keith was but he had wanted nothing else more in his life than to be with the stars. And now, just because he’s married and Curtis wanted him to stay home and retire, he’s doing it? Keith would have never asked that of him. He would have never made Shiro leave his stars. 

“So, you’ve been pretty busy, huh, Keith? I tried to call you last week when Pidge said you would be back from a mission but you didn’t answer.” Shiro’s voice brought Keith back from his thoughts. He was still upset at the news of Shiro’s retirement, thinking about all the ways he would have been a way better mate than Curtis is. He knew it was too late for that now, though.

Keith’s thoughts quickly changed tracks as he processed Shiro’s words. His brows pulled together and his chest started to tighten. Shiro said he called him. He knew he had called him, which meant it hadn’t been an accident. Shiro had actually meant to call him. But why? “Oh, yeah, I’ve been busy. Lot of work to do now that the empire is gone.” 

“Ah, well, I’m glad you’ve been helping them out. I’m sure your mom enjoys having you around.” He said with a soft smile. It made Keith’s stomach clench. “I’m proud of you, Keith. You’ve really come a long way since back at the Garrison. It only they knew they had one of the future heroes of the universe on their hands.” 

Keith had come to his breaking point, he realized. He had held out a lot longer than he thought he would have when Shiro showed up. Really, after the wedding, Keith never thought he would come to another reunion. So, who could blame him if he left now? Who could make him stay, knowing that his heart was breaking into a million pieces all over again because of the words Shiro spoke. They cut deep because he made Shiro proud. That was something he always wanted, to make him proud and to make Shiro happy to have him by his side. He wanted to be someone Shiro would love to show off and say that he belonged to him but while Shiro telling him he was proud, it burned like someone just poured boiling water over him. That wasn’t an ‘I’m proud of the person I love’ it was an ‘I’m proud of the kid I mentored/of my little brother’ and it fucking hurt. It hurt so damn much. 

Keith would have been able to handle random conversations. He was able to handle some of the talk of Curtis and their life together, but Keith couldn’t handle Shiro talking about him. He couldn’t handle Shiro saying something that meant something to him. His heart couldn’t take that, even though it so badly wanted to take it and run with the fact he had made Shiro proud. He couldn’t. He just couldn’t. 

Standing, Keith shoved his hands into his jean pockets, having worn casual earth clothing instead of his blade suit. He regretted it now. At least if he was wearing that he could put up his mask and no one would be able to see the way his face wanted to contort with pain. “It was good seeing you guys, but I’m gonna head out. Busy… and all.” He mumbled as he pulled a hand from his pocket long enough to wave it slightly at the whole ‘and all’ part. 

“But, Keith…” Surprisingly, it’s Lance that grabs ahold of Shiro went he stands to go after the quickly disappearing Keith. Keith who was running away from the man he loved but couldn’t have. When Shiro looked to Lance in question, wanting to know why on earth he stopped him from trying to get Keith to come back, Lance just shook his head. It was Romelle who actually spoke though.

“He really is busy. He could only come for a few hours and had to show up early.” She lied to the Captain, well, soon-to-be-former Captain of the IGF-Atlas. Her and Coran both knew what was going on, they both understood what was happening to the half-galra and both would keep their mouths quiet until Keith told everyone else. If he ever did. Just like his mother, they both hoped that the human blood that ran through his veins would be enough to stop the Black Paladin’s death. Or at least help him live a bit longer. So far, Keith seemed to be doing better at this point than some Galra who have been rejected. It was sad how it had their hoping growing even though the likelihood of Keith surviving this being very slim. 

“I… alright,” Shiro said quietly as he lowered himself back into his chair, his eyes staring off where Keith had disappeared behind the hill. He would just call him later. He would remember to call. There wouldn’t be forgetting to call like what had happened over the last seven months. There was nothing that would make Shiro too busy to talk to Keith, especially now that he’ll be retiring. There would be no reason he couldn’t call his best friend or even visit him when he wasn’t on a mission. There wouldn’t be anything stopping him because Shiro needed to talk to Keith. Even for the short about of time they talked here, Shiro felt better than he had since the wedding. Though, seeing how everyone had reacted to Keith leaving, he was concerned. Was there something wrong that he didn’t know about? 

Keith would tell him if there was something wrong right? They were best friends after all. Brothers, Keith had called them. Brothers….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. Two chapters in less than 12 hours lol I'm proud of myself. I was definitely on a roll, that was for sure. Sadly, though, I'm tired and as much as I would love to continue writing I need to sleep. 
> 
> I don't know when the next time I'll update this but hopefully, it'll be soon! Thank you for reading this far though!
> 
> Edit: OH! Had a thought while getting ready for bed. I'm thinking about, once I'm done with this piece, doing a spin-off with something to do with one of the clones. This might make sense to you if you read the twitter thread version of this if not, ignore me. Just tell me if you're down for some clone Shiro.

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway, I'm on twitter [twitter](https://twitter.com/jax_409)  
> I might be putting up the short and straight to the point version up as a twitter thread in case they just want a quick slap to the face.


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